\Sign\, n. [F. signe, L. signum; cf. AS. segen, segn, a
sign, standard, banner, also fr. L. signum. Cf. {Ensign},
{Resign}, {Seal} a stamp, {Signal}, {Signet}.]
That by which anything is made known or represented; that
which furnishes evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a
proof. Specifically:
(a) A remarkable event, considered by the ancients as
    indicating the will of some deity; a prodigy; an omen.
(b) An event considered by the Jews as indicating the divine
    will, or as manifesting an interposition of the divine
    power for some special end; a miracle; a wonder.
          Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of
          the Spirit of God.                   --Rom. xv. 19.
          It shall come to pass, if they will not believe
          thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first
          sign, that they will believe the voice of the
          latter sign.                         --Ex. iv. 8.
(c) Something serving to indicate the existence, or preserve
    the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument.
          What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty
          men, and they became a sign.         --Num. xxvi.
                                               10.
(d) Any symbol or emblem which prefigures, typifles, or
    represents, an idea; a type; hence, sometimes, a picture.
          The holy symbols, or signs, are not barely
          significative; but what they represent is as
          certainly delivered to us as the symbols
          themselves.                          --Brerewood.
          Saint George of Merry England, the sign of victory.
                                               --Spenser.
(e) A word or a character regarded as the outward
    manifestation of thought; as, words are the sign of
    ideas.
(f) A motion, an action, or a gesture by which a thought is
    expressed, or a command or a wish made known.
          They made signs to his father, how he would have
          him called.                          --Luke i. 62.
(g) Hence, one of the gestures of pantomime, or of a language
    of a signs such as those used by the North American
    Indians, or those used by the deaf and dumb.
Note: Educaters of the deaf distinguish between natural
      signs, which serve for communicating ideas, and
      methodical, or systematic, signs, adapted for the
      dictation, or the rendering, of written language, word
      by word; and thus the signs are to be distinguished
      from the manual alphabet, by which words are spelled on
      the fingers.
(h) A military emblem carried on a banner or a standard.
    --Milton.
(i) A lettered board, or other conspicuous notice, placed
    upon or before a building, room, shop, or office to
    advertise the business there transacted, or the name of
    the person or firm carrying it on; a publicly displayed
    token or notice.
          The shops were, therefore, distinguished by painted
          signs, which gave a gay and grotesque aspect to the
          streets.                             --Macaulay.
(j) (Astron.) The twelfth part of the ecliptic or zodiac.
Note: The signs are reckoned from the point of intersection
      of the ecliptic and equator at the vernal equinox, and
      are named, respectively, {Aries} ([Aries]), {Taurus}
      ([Taurus]), {Gemini} (II), {Cancer} ([Cancer]), {Leo}
      ([Leo]), {Virgo} ([Virgo]), {Libra} ([Libra]),
      {Scorpio} ([Scorpio]), {Sagittarius} ([Sagittarius]),
      {Capricornus  ([Capricorn]), {Aquarius} ([Aquarius]),
      {Pisces} ([Pisces]). These names were originally the
      names of the constellations occupying severally the
      divisions of the zodiac, by which they are still
      retained; but, in consequence of the procession of the
      equinoxes, the signs have, in process of time, become
      separated about 30 degrees from these constellations,
      and each of the latter now lies in the sign next in
      advance, or to the east of the one which bears its
      name, as the constellation Aries in the sign Taurus,
      etc.
(k) (Alg.) A character indicating the relation of quantities,
    or an operation performed upon them; as, the sign +
    (plus); the sign -- (minus); the sign of division /, and
    the like.
(l) (Med.) An objective evidence of disease; that is, one
    appreciable by some one other than the patient.
Note: The terms symptom and and sign are often used
      synonymously; but they may be discriminated. A sign
      differs from a symptom in that the latter is perceived
      only by the patient himself. The term sign is often
      further restricted to the purely local evidences of
      disease afforded by direct examination of the organs
      involved, as distinguished from those evidence of
      general disturbance afforded by observation of the
      temperature, pulse, etc. In this sense it is often
      called physical sign.
(m) (Mus.) Any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, etc.
(n) (Theol.) That which, being external, stands for, or
    signifies, something internal or spiritual; -- a term
    used in the Church of England in speaking of an ordinance
    considered with reference to that which it represents.
          An outward and visible sign of an inward and
          spiritual grace.                     --Bk. of
                                               Common Prayer.
Note: See the Table of {Arbitrary Signs}, p. 1924.
{Sign manual}.
(a) (Eng. Law) The royal signature superscribed at the top of
    bills of grants and letter patent, which are then sealed
    with the privy signet or great seal, as the case may be,
    to complete their validity.
(b) The signature of one's name in one's own handwriting.
    --Craig. Tomlins. Wharton.
Syn: Token; mark; note; symptom; indication; signal; symbol;
     type; omen; prognostic; presage; manifestation. See
     {Emblem}.

\Sign\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Signed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Signing}.] [OE. seinen to bless, originally, to make the
sign of the cross over; in this sense fr. ASS. segnian (from
segn, n.), or OF. seignier, F. signer, to mark, to sign (in
sense 3), fr. L. signare to mark, set a mark upon, from
signum. See {Sign}, n.]
1. To represent by a sign; to make known in a typical or
   emblematic manner, in distinction from speech; to signify.
         I signed to Browne to make his retreat. --Sir W.
                                               Scott.
2. To make a sign upon; to mark with a sign.
         We receive this child into the congregation of
         Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the
         cross.                                --Bk. of Com
                                               Prayer.
3. To affix a signature to; to ratify by hand or seal; to
   subscribe in one's own handwriting.
         Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed, And
         let him sign it.                      --Shak.
4. To assign or convey formally; -- used with away.
5. To mark; to make distinguishable. --Shak.

\Sign\, v. i.
1. To be a sign or omen. [Obs.] --Shak.
2. To make a sign or signal; to communicate directions or
   intelligence by signs.
3. To write one's name, esp. as a token of assent,
   responsibility, or obligation.